The Long Road Home

We are in Texas and it sure feels good to be home! It's hot and sweaty and I love it. This is my first Houston summer in 4 years so I'd forgotten the sweltering heat for the most part and can enjoy it again after such a long break (and knowing we won't be here to see August). We've got a lot of friends and good food to catch up with but we're taking things slowly and trying to get adjusted to the time difference and the heat first. It feels really nice having 6 weeks and no Christmas holidays making everyone's schedules hectic, so this should be a very different trip home.

In case you're wondering what a 36-hour journey across the world with two preschool boys entails, I'll walk you through our trip.

We left the house at 10:30pm Perth time to catch our flight to Singapore. The boys had slept for 6 hours already and were full of energy and excitement for the first plane ride.
Let me pause here and say how much the Perth airport drives me crazy. I always have to beg the ticket agents to let me keep my stroller until we get to the gate and there they call for the strollers about half an hour before they board the flight. Not fun lugging around all the bags and a carseat. To make matters worse, all passengers have to walk down four flights of stairs to get to the jetway. I asked about an elevator but it's apparently too much trouble for them and no one was available to assist me so a kind passenger helped carry Alex to make sure he didn't fall down all the stairs. This is all AFTER I had to argue with the gate agent about changing my seats because they had me 12 rows behind the kids. Don't think that would have worked well....at least not for the unfortunate person sitting next to them. But we got all the kinks worked out, left Perth around 1am, and had a nice 5-hour flight to Singapore. Everyone ate and we all got a little nap.

We arrived in Singapore around breakfast time and stopped for hash browns at Burger King.

Afterward we wanted to see the butterflies but it was pouring rain (found out later they had a major flood that day on Orchard Road) so the boys played at the koi pond and playground instead.

At 9:30am (still on Perth time), we took our 7-hour flight to Seoul and my patience began to wear a little thin. Alex took a short nap, Ben didn't sleep at all, and everyone began to get restless. Both boys watched a lot of TV but the kids' choices were really limited and my laptop wouldn't plug into the outlets so we didn't have any other options. I started digging into my stash for all the entertainment I could find, like stickers and waxy sticks.



We were remaining on the same flight out of Seoul but had to deplane, head through security again, and then got a chance to run around. Alex was addicted to the moving sidewalks so the kids ran up and down these until it was time to board again.

This is when Ben began to ask if we were there yet and I began to doubt my decision to do this alone. We still had a 10-hour flight to San Francisco just to get on US soil.

But I gave the kids each a little dramamine and this is what I enjoyed for about 9 of the 10 hours. (pet peeve about Singapore airlines - they love to turn on ALL the lights whenever they do any kind of service, no matter what time of day. Their service is good enough for me to forgive them but it still irritates me)

Sweet sleeping babies! I woke Ben up for breakfast and a potty break and he asked to go back to sleep.

Cool view of Mt. Fuji when we crossed over Japan.

Finally, we arrived in San Francisco, about 27 hours after leaving Perth. Unfortunately we had a 5-hour layover before our connection to Houston but the kids were great and used the time to eat, watch a movie, change clothes, and roll their cars over every square inch of carpet in the terminal. I found a plug for my laptop and made my own movie theater.

On our last flight of the day, 3 1/2 hours to Houston, I gave up on Alex's carseat and checked it so he got to sit like a big boy in his seat. He walked on the plane and started screaming "TV!!!" and pointing to the back of the seat...didn't take long for this little guy to notice the lack of personal entertainment systems. Luckily we survived and each boy got one more nap while I was digging down to the very bottom in my bag of tricks for entertainment.

Sunset look over the bay area and Golden Gate bridge in the distance.

Finally, finally, finally we made it into Houston about midnight and Grammy and Grumpy met us at the airport. I didn't get any pictures but was so happy to see them and come home to their house. The boys didn't waste any time getting reacquainted with their favorite furry friend, Abby.

But luckily they passed out eventually and have even been sharing a slightly modified queen sized bed.

Now we've been hanging out with our favorite four grandparents and getting down to the business of summertime in Texas!

Call Me Crazy

The big day has arrived again....tonight the kids and I embark on a 36-hour journey back to Houston. We'll stop in Singapore, Seoul, and San Francisco en route so this isn't exactly the most direct trip but it's all booked on miles so we can't complain. I think it's pretty amazing that at 3 years old Ben was able to book his own international roundtrip ticket on his accumulated miles. It's always so exciting to head back home (Texas will always be home to me) but a little bittersweet to put our lives here on hold for 6 weeks and know that we won't be sleeping in our own beds for a long time. It's hard to describe the feeling of trying to maintain a life on two continents and be happy in both places, and I think it's pretty confusing to the kids. Ben has asked several times if we're coming back.

We've been doing our pre-jetlag routine here for the past several days already. A 14-hour time difference is a big adjustment, not just for sleeping but also for mealtimes, so I like to take the edge off while we're still comfortable in our own home. Several days before we leave I start waking the kids an hour earlier each day and putting them to bed early. Our entire day of meals and naps slowly shifts so today we woke up at 3am and naptime will roll around at the ripe old hour of 8am. Hopefully the kids will go to sleep around 4pm because I have to wake them up at 10pm to head to the airport to start this big adventure and I'm hoping everyone can get enjoy a last sleep in bed before we hit the road.

Even at such an unholy hour, these guys are still full of smiles and laughs. Here are a few last pictures from Perth:




And no day would be complete without a little guy hamming it up for the camera. Alex has discovered his nipples, thanks to his hobby of removing his shirt, and thinks they're hilarious.

Houston, see you soon!

My Little Kangaroos

Down Under Weekend

We just had a 3-day weekend and celebrated in true Perth fashion! Matt got to check out Rottnest Island on Saturday and do some surfing so I took the kids to Caversham Wildlife Park with my friend Kim, whose husband was traveling. Then on Monday it was my turn to have a little fun with a girls' Swan River cruise and winery visit. That pretty much covers all of our favorite things in Australia!

Caversham is probably my favorite place here and it's a good thing I have kids to take as an excuse. Kim was happy to join us as well and I have to credit her for most of these pictures because her camera is much better than mine so I'm using hers. The pictures aren't in order for our fun, fun day.

Meeting Big Bub the Wombat. Alex was particularly fascinated, either because he wanted to wrestle the big guy or thought it was like looking in a mirror.

The farm area has a rabbit petting cage...good thing these guys are fast! Alex is slightly less than gentle right now.

Lucky for the bunnies they could escape behind the wall. Ben was really gentle but Alex's excited (LOUD) laugh scared off even the toughest rabbit.

A wombat whose hands must have been cold.

And our favorite place - the kangaroo field.

The boys had no trouble making friends here.

Ben was so excited because I told him the day before where we were headed and he couldn't wait to see all his buddies.

Alex took his job as kangaroo cafeteria worker very seriously.

EAT IT!! You will LIKE it!!

Are these not the cutest animals in the world?

I love how some of them were frizzy from the morning dew.

Kim loving on some of the sweet ones.

Ben and his entourage.

Cheese! (*grimace*)

This was the most adorable joey I'd ever seen with that little mustache, until we noticed....

....this sweet joey in the pouch!!

He was just hanging with mama and stuck his head out, checked out the scenery, then pulled it back inside for a nap. It was my first time to see the head come out and it was so precious.

We went to pet some koalas and were lucky enough to see this mama who also had a baby in the pouch. Notice the extra little arm reaching out?

Alex: Enough with the boring koalas....what time is lunch?

I tried to figure out a way to smuggle this little one home.


One more visit with the roos.


Ben did love this one more than the others and spent some time talking to it.


**hugs**

Hmm...he's just full of love, apparently! He took a liking to Kim's leg.

We finally dragged the kids out, had a nice picnic, stopped by the chocolate factory, and had a nice quiet drive home with two exhausted boys in the backseat. The best part for me was when we got home and I was able to switch both sleeping kids to their beds for extra long naps, which never seems to work for us!

On Monday, the holiday here, several of my friends and I decided it was dad/kids day while we took our wine cruise.
(L to R) Amy, Rebecca, Jen, Kimberly, Melanie, Kim, and me

We had morning tea, cheese and wine tastings, then stopped at Sandalford (Matt's and my favorite!) for more tasting and some shopping. The vines have long since been harvested but still look really pretty.

Lunch was at Water's Edge and afterward we had more tastings in WA's oldest wine cellar.

Back down the river on the way home we got a nice view of Perth. We saw lots of swans, ducks, pelicans, and sea eagles along the way.

There was some singing and karaoke (none by our group, thankfully) and we even got a song from one of the other passengers who's on a kids TV show here called Hi-5. Funny story: Melanie's 5-year old Brynn said this guy was her "second least favorite" person of the show. Kids sure know how to keep it real. No wonder Ben loves her.

Meanwhile, the boys had a great day with daddy fixing things around the house and playing at the park. It was a great weekend all around!

Welcome to the World

I want to wish my sister and her husband our biggest congratulations on their precious new addition. Robert Reid French was born yesterday at 9:29am, weighing 7lbs 15oz and a healthy 19 1/2inches long. We are absolutely thrilled for them and so excited to know all the joy and love this little boy will bring into Stacey and Jason's lives, starting with this beautiful smile!

I am so excited to go meet my nephew in a few short weeks but it's killing me to be a million miles away from such a wonderful moment. There was no way to plan our trip around the possibility of making his birth but I want more than anything to celebrate a healthy, full-term baby joining our family since I never got to do that with one of my own. Can't wait to hold little Reid and I may just have to steal him away :)

Click here to visit his blog.